Key Refinancing Rate

(Reuters) - The euro slid for a third straight day against the dollar on Wednesday after dismal European manufacturing data added to fears about a broadening slowdown in the region ahead of a European Central Bank meeting and key elections in France and Greece. The euro came off its lows, however, on speculation the European Central Bank may provide euro zone banks with more liquidity in a third long-term refinancing operation after the euro zone data, in both indebted and core nations, confirmed a worsening economic outlook. Italy's manufacturing sector shrank more than expected, while data from Germany, Spain and France also showed factory activity falling significantly. Political uncertainty also looms large, with upcoming elections in France and Greece this weekend having the ...

(Reuters) - The euro fell for a third straight session against the dollar on Wednesday after soft European data fueled fears about a deep and broader slowdown in the region ahead of key elections in France and Greece. The euro, however, briefly trimmed losses after a report showed the U.S. economy created fewer private-sector jobs than expected last month. It also came off its lows after speculation the European Central Bank could provide euro-zone banks with more liquidity in another long-term refinancing operation. Wednesday's weaker euro zone data, not just in indebted smaller regional economies but in core nations too, raised speculation over possible policy signals at Thursday's ECB monetary policy meeting. Italy's manufacturing sector shrank more than expected, with new orders ...

(Reuters) - The euro fell for a third straight session against the dollar on Wednesday after soft European data rekindled fears about a deep and broader slowdown in the region ahead of key elections in France and Greece. The euro, however, briefly trimmed losses after a report showed the U.S. economy created fewer private-sector jobs than expected last month. It also came off its lows after speculation the European Central Bank could infuse euro-zone banks with more liquidity in another long-term refinancing operation. Wednesday's weaker euro zone data, not just in indebted smaller regional economies but in core nations, too, raised speculation over possible policy signals at Thursday's ECB monetary policy meeting. Italy's manufacturing sector shrank far more than expected, with new ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares edged higher on Friday on firm U.S. data, but a two-notch downgrade of Spain's credit rating capped gains, while fresh easing measures by the Bank of Japan briefly pushed Tokyo stocks up over 1 percent and the dollar above 81 yen. European shares were likely to fall, with financial spreadbetters predicting that major European markets would open as much as down 0.5 percent. U.S. stock futures were down 0.5 percent. Japan's central bank moved as expected to help fight deep deflation, sparking a jump in the Nikkei stock average which helped temporarily drag the broader Asian stock higher. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan last stood up 0.2 percent, set for a weekly drop of 0.1 percent. The technology sector and Korean shares outperformed, ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares pushed higher on Friday on firm U.S. data despite a two-notch downgrade of Spain's credit rating that capped gains, while fresh easing measures by the Bank of Japan supported Tokyo stocks. Japan's central bank moved as expected to help fight deep deflation, initially pushing Japanese stocks up more than 1 percent and helping drag the broader Asian stock higher. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended gains to a 0.4 percent rise, headed by the technology sector with a 1.6 percent rise. At current levels, the index was set for a 0.2 percent weekly gain. Seoul shares outperformed, rising on the back of a record $5.15 billion first-quarter profit by Samsung Electronics, which boosted its shares by more than 3 percent to an all-time ...

(EU) ECB: €562M borrowed in overnight loan facility v €311M prior; €767.8B parked in deposit facility v €775.7B prior (CH) Swiss Mar Trade Balance (CHF): 1.7B v 3.0Be; Real Exports M/M:-2.5% v +1.0%e; Real Imports M/M: 4.6% v -12.2% prior (FI) Finland Mar PPI M/M: 0.4% v 0.8%e; Y/Y: 1.4% v 1.8%e (FI) Finland Mar Unemployment Rate: 8.5% v 8.2%e (CH) Swiss Mar UBS Consumption Indicator: 1.22 v 0.90 prior (FR) France Apr Consumer Confidence: 88 v 87e; Business Survey Overall Demand: +4 v -8 prior (ES) Spain Feb Mortgages-capital loaned Y/Y: -49.6 v -34.0% prior; Mortgages on Houses Y/Y: -47.1 v -41.3% prior (CZ) Czech Apr Business Confidence: +7.5 v +9.6 prior; Consumer Confidence: -29.3 v -29.5 prior; Composite: +0.2 v +1.7 prior (HU) Hungary Feb Retail Trade Y/Y: -1.4% v +0.2%e (ZA) South ...

Political uncertainty in Europe weights upon risk appetite; Major European PMI data disappoints Economic Data (EU) ECB: €311M borrowed in overnight loan facility v €335M prior; €775.7B parked in deposit facility v €746.5B prior (FR) France Apr Business Confidence: 95 v 96e; Production Outlook: -14 v -15 prior; Own-Company Production Outlook: -4 v +8 prior (FR) France Apr Preliminary PMI Manufacturing: 47.3 v 47.4e; PMI Services: 46.4 v 50.1e (CH) Swiss M3 Money Supply Y/Y: 6.6 v 6.4% prior (CH) Swiss Q1 Real Estate Index Family Homes: 410.4 v 404.6 prior (NL) Netherlands Apr Producer Confidence: -3.3 v -2.6 prior (DE) Germany Apr Advanced PMI Manufacturing: 46.3 v 49.0e; PMI Services: 52.6 v 52.3e (EU) Euro Zone Apr Advanced PMI Manufacturing: 46.0 v 48.1e; PMI Services: 47.9 v 49.3e; ...

Forex Morning Briefing : Politics and monetary policy dominate the scene What’s new: Asia: JPY on the bid after French elections. AUD lower on weak PPI. United States: Mixed equity session and lower USD on Friday. EZ: Focus on French elections and political situation in the Netherlands. Rates in Asia and Indices: EUR/USD 1.3174 1.321 -0.30 % USD/CHF 0.9096 0.9123 -0.32 % GBP/USD 1.6103 1.6135 -0.09 % USD/JPY 81.24 81.67 0.33 % EUR/CHF 1.1994 1.2020 -0.02 % EUR/JPY 107.04 107.81 0.67 % Dow Jones 12964.25 13082.54 0.50 % Nasdaq 2674.66 2712.01 -0.40 % S&P 500 1376.96 1387.4 0.11 % Nikkei 225 9520.98 9643.27 -0.20 % Shanghai 2383.068 2411.51 -0.65 % Gold 1640.05 1643.38 -0.08 % ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The debt crisis is far from over still and I think Spain will be worse before it gets better" - Henrik Drusebjerg, a senior equity strategist at Nordea Bank AB Spain sold 2.54 billion euros of debt dated 2014 and 2022 on Thursday, above the target range of 1.5 to 2.5 billion euros for the auction. USD "Progress in the labor market is not quite as strong as people had hoped, but we are still on a recovery track here" - Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc. The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits declined by 2,000 to 386,000 in the week ended April 14 from the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday. GBP "Economic data does look like it is showing some stabilization" - Samantha Fitzpatrick, senior ...